CINCINNATI — Bud Norris’ night ended early, and perhaps so too did his season, as it is unclear how severe the shoulder discomfort that chased him in Tuesday’s third inning will turn out to be when he is re-evaluated today.

The Astros’ night, thanks to a pair of homer-accelerated rallies, ended considerably later.

But both ended the same way. With a loss. The 6-4 defeat at Great American Ball Park was the 11th in 17 decisions for Norris in what really has been a good season and the 101st for the Astros in what has been anything but a good season.

Norris gave up three runs in a taxing second inning and was taxed again in the third. After a strikeout of Devin Mesoraco, the righthander was the center of attention on the mound for the wrong reasons. It was just one awkward motion that did it.

“I just felt it on that one pitch tonight where I think I overextended it and felt the shoulder grab real quick,” Norris said. “It was a little frightening.”

Astros manager Brad Mills came out along with trainer Nate Lucero, pitching coach Doug Brocail and other interested parties, and Norris was removed with little discussion.

“I didn’t want to push anymore; there was no reason to,” Mills said. “We’re going to wait and see how he is tomorrow and go from there. He said it grabbed on him, and that’s all I needed to hear.”

The schedule provided him with one more start Sunday against the Colorado Rockies. However, the Astros may choose to be cautious, given what little is left to accomplish in record and the number of relievers on the roster who could easily piece together a full nine innings.

If this is the end, it was Norris’ best season as a big leaguer, with his compiling a 3.77 ERA, 176 strikeouts and 63 unintentional walks in 186 innings. If it’s not the end, well, then that’s ideal.

“Of course I want to be out there competing and playing,” Norris said. “I’d love to make all 32 starts, but it’s something that we need to think about and be honest and look forward. If it was a pennant race, absolutely, but I don’t know what the decision’s going to be.”

He left with a 3-0 deficit, the product of Mesoraco’s second-inning home run and a subsequent rally of three hits and a walk in the same inning.

The Astros got a two-run homer in the third by J.D. Martinez, who took an outside pitch perfectly to right field.

They again fought back after a two-run rally against Lucas Harrell in the fourth, as pinch hitter Chris Johnson crushed a 432-foot home run in the eighth to make it a 5-4 game. It was the first career pinch-hit homer for Johnson and concluded a long at-bat in which he also just missed a home run foul.

“That felt really good,” Johnson said. “I was battling. It’s tough to pinch hit, so I just went up there and just wasn’t going to let him beat me.”

But after Wilton Lopez surrendered a blast to Brandon Phillips in the eighth, the Astros were out of comebacks. After 13 minutes of rain delay and a tedious 12-pitcher game, it ended with a loss.